walkout stairs from the basement below grade
Vinnya DeLuca
2 years ago
last modified: 2 years ago
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Vinnya DeLuca
2 years agoRelated Discussions
gas fireplace in below grade basement
Comments (8)From other posts I have seen, The fireplace ppl are very busy , right now. You may want to look at different manufactures, one my be hugrier than another? What brands are you looking into? I have a Valor and it's great, I have also done a lot of research on the Lopi Brand. Most of the web-sites for these manufactures have a "Find Dealer" hot button , that you can click to see who sells them in your particular area. Good Luck!! Gary...See MoreStairs to Grade from Back Patio
Comments (3)LONG STORY SHORT: DH talked to inspector & we don't need stairs. The cost to do the pressure treated stairs is $600 per the bid the builder gave us. We called another guy in the area and he did a rough estimate that was about the same. Sorry, but, that just seems to be a non-trivial amount of money from our point of view for what would likely be a throw-away. We asked the builder exactly what code inspector cited that requires stairs & he didn't have an answer, but gave us the inspector's number. Hubby called the office late, yesterday, and talked to one guy who said, "Well, it's a good idea to have a way to get down to grade from the patio", but couldn't give him a paragraph in the code. He passed DH off to another inspector who said that he was the one that had done the inspection, that he hadn't written up anything about stairs & that there wasn't anything in the code to require them. Go figger! So, the builder says he will get this straightened out. We shall see. I appreciate the advice to just do what the inspector says. You get crosswise with an inspector on a relatively small thing & it might cost you on bigger things. I guess I was being contrary because I come from an aerospace background and manage manned spaceflight hardware projects. Inevitably in the build process, a QE or QA tells you either you can't do something or you must do something else different from what you are planning on. Usually, they are right and you thank them for their due diligence. But, it doesn't hurt to challenge them when the thing the are telling you sounds off. Plenty of times, they are just putting their own interpretation on the standards/regs/requirements docs. BTW - in trying to figure this out, I went Google crazy & was reading the online available specs for places all over the country. I must have gone through 2 dozen & the only place I found that required stairs to grade was Naperville, IL where you needed stairs if the patio was 8" or more above grade. Thanks for the help & advice. I'll update when things shake out one way or another, because it is likely a good data point. Jo Ann...See MoreEngineered Hardwood Below Grade for the Basement How Wide?
Comments (2)It depends on how much control you HAVE and how much you want to RISK. If you want to save money on cooling costs by reducing the use of A/C and humidity control then you want a narrower plank (3.5" - 4.5"). If you have precise control AND you have NO PROBLEM running the A/C and humidity control the entire time (no open window days for you!), then you can go as wide as you can afford. Your view of risk (or risk aversion) will tell you how wide to go. If you are nervous about the entire thing, then you will go as narrow as physically available. If you have no issue with risk (you have to have what you have to have), then you will go with the widest plank your bank account can afford (and then some). Some parts of the South are so humid I wouldn't recommend wood on any level - engineered or not. Location, location, location dictates what would be the best option....See MoreBelow grade basement with sunken patio: Drainage Help!!
Comments (9)My parents dug out their back yard kind of like this in Salt Lake City Utah to allow for full Southern sun exposure for a passive solar home. The house is not the lowest point and has a few steps going from the back door down to a patio. So there's a small very gentle slope from the patio up to the house. However, there have been 2 incidents in the last 35 years where huge rainstorms combined with nearby irrigation canals have caused flooding. The second incident was just last summer and we had to get some emergency pumps to save their finished basement. Since then they have purchased some pumps to have on hand in case of emergency. If the lowest point and the patio had been even with the basement like your second photo, the water would have been 2ft deep and would have gone into the house....See MoreWestCoast Hopeful
2 years agoWestCoast Hopeful
2 years agoVinnya DeLuca
2 years agoVinnya DeLuca
2 years agoVinnya DeLuca
2 years agoMark Bischak, Architect
2 years agolast modified: 2 years agoVinnya DeLuca thanked Mark Bischak, ArchitectVinnya DeLuca
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Mark Bischak, Architect